Monday, May 1, 2017

Life Histories of Theban Tombs

Life Histories of Theban Tombs (LHTT) focuses on a cluster of rock-cut tombs built during the 2nd
millennium BC at the hillside of Sheikh ‘Abd el-Qurna in Western
Thebes. The project draws on an integrative archaeological perspective
that combines archaeological research with scientific, material, and
historical analysis. Its main objectives are to investigate the natural
and anthropogenic evolution of the hillside and to explore the history
of the tombs, objects, and people connected with it, from the early 2nd millennium BC to the 20th
century. LHTT prioritizes research procedures that give relevance to
detail and variation, and uses technical and electronic equipment that
supports quantifiable, precise data collection often on a micro-analytic
level (Research). Digital data processing and an interactive database system,
which will eventually be transmitted into an open source for students
of archaeology and related fields, are also an important part of the
research strategy.

The primary focus of the project is notice and comment on open access material relating to the ancient world, but I will also include other kinds of networked information as it comes available.

The ancient world is conceived here as it is at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, my academic home at the time AWOL was launched. That is, from the Pillars of Hercules to the Pacific, from the beginnings of human habitation to the late antique / early Islamic period.

AWOL is the successor to Abzu, a guide to networked open access data relevant to the study and public presentation of the Ancient Near East and the Ancient Mediterranean world, founded at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago in 1994. Together they represent the longest sustained effort to map the development of open digital scholarship in any discipline.